Egypt's PM visits factories of SE Writing Systems, Uniliver Mashreq

CAIRO – 13 June 2020: Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli visited on Saturday the plants of SE Writing Systems and Uniliver Mashreq within a tour in a number of factories in 6th of October City accompanied by Minister of Industry and Trade Nevine Gamea.

The prime minister has been carrying out a series of tours in industrial establishments since the outbreak of COVID-19 upon the instructions of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. The aim is holding dialogue with investors in order to provide continuous and support to the sector.

The CEO of SE Writing Systems highlighted that Sumitomo Electric expanded its investments in Egypt in the past few years by establishing a plant in 6th of October City in 2017 and another in Port Said in 2019 with total capital worth €50 million.

The CEO pointed out that the former was built in just 6 months after receiving the land, and that is specialized in vehicles' wires. He added that the factory has been the first to use a specific machine in a country other than Japan.

The reason is the priority Egypt gives to manufacturing and incentives granted to exporters.

SE Wiring Systems was founded in 2008 in the Free Zone System and has 5 factories in Port Said and 2 factories in 6th of October City with a total investment of LE4 billion. The factories produce cables and wires, including those used in vehicles.

The company that has 12,000 employees supplies to Toyota, Honda, Peugeot, Citroin and Opel, and exports to United Kingdom, France, Turkey, Italy, Russia, United States, and Czech Republic.

The prime minister stressed the importance of manufacturing production input locally calling upon the company to contribute in boosting the value chain in Egypt.

Later on, Madbouli and Gamea headed to Uniliver Mahreq where they were met by Managing Director Ashraf Bakry who underlined that the company has been operating in Egypt for 30 years.

At present, the company has investments worth LE7 billion, including LE1.5 billion that have been pumped since 2016. The goal was enlarging the production and exporting capacities so as the size of the company's production is now 180,000 tons per annum. The half of the production is exported with a value of $150 million annually.

The company secures 22,000 direct and indirect jobs through its 5 factories located in 6th of October City and Alexandria's Borg Al Arab. It has become the regional export center for Arab and African states as well as Russia, United States, and United Kingdom.

Bakry stated that the only Uniliver toothpaste production line in the Middle East is in Egypt supplying to 45 countries. The company's plants in Egypt also house a laundry detergent production line whose output is fully exported. The line was introduced in 2015.

The prime minister praised the expansions carried out by the company and the quality of its products exported to many countries around the globe. He asserted that the state prioritizes manufacturing at this stage and is eager to back the sector.